Disgraced non-binary former Biden admin nuclear official Sam Brinton will be held in MEN’S jail
Former nuclear official Sam Brinton, who identifies as non-binary and faces charges of suitcase theft, is set to be placed in a men’s jail in Maryland while awaiting a transfer to Virginia.
The Montgomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation has a policy of placing processed inmates in jails based on their biological sex.
Sam Brinton, 35, was arrested at their home last week on grand larceny charges related to the alleged theft of a suitcase belonging to Tanzanian fashion designer Asya Khamsin from Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C.
Khamsin reported the loss of her luggage, including the one-of-a-kind designs in March 2018.
Briton was arrested as a fugitive of justice and now is being held awaiting transfer in the case.
Sam Brinton, a former nuclear official who identifies as non-binary, will be put in men’s jail in Maryland before transfer to Virginia to face charges of suitcase theft
Brinton was arrested on Wednesday at their home in Maryland. Their husband Kevin (left in February) was kept in the house while Brinton was led out in cuffs
Brinton is seen earlier this year heading to the airport
Brinton is being held at the Montgomery County Detention Center in Maryland, where inmates are housed based on biological sex
Pictures then surfaced online showing Khamsin wearing the dresses and later Brinton wearing what appeared to be the exact same designs.
This led to Brinton’s arrest who previously served as deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste in the Office of Nuclear Energy in the Biden administration.
Brinton was subsequently fired after similar incidents involving the theft of women’s luggage that were reported in Minnesota and Las Vegas.
Despite avoiding jail time in those instances, Brinton now faces new charges and remains in custody without bail at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.
Brinton (seen in 2019 in an alleged stolen outfit) was arrested at home in Maryland on Wednesday in connection with the alleged theft of property from Reagan National Airport
Tanzanian-American fashion designer Asya Khamsin (above) says that she filed a police report after seeing former Department of Energy official Sam Brinton wearing her stolen clothes
They are currently in a ‘pre-placement’ hold at the county jail but they are likely to be housed with the general population of the men’s jail next week before appearing in front of a judge on June 14.
The Montgomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation policy dictates inmates be placed according to their biological sex at birth regardless of any anatomical changes that might have been made.
The fashion designer involved, Asya Khamsin, has given authorities with relevant information about the clothes as part of the ongoing police investigation.
Khamsin initially expressed confusion after seeing pictures of Brinton wearing her designs at events – especially after the prominent media attention surrounding the earlier luggage thefts.
Brinton is seen left at an event on June 11, 2018 in an outfit that Khamsin said resembled one of the outfits that went missing with her luggage in March 2018, similar to the design seen right
Sam Brinton (pictured left at a Starbucks in West Hollywood in October 2019) appeared to be wearing Khamsin’s one-of-a-kind designs
Attorney Peter C. Hansen told DailyMail.com on Friday that his client ‘provided to the MWAA images of Mr. Brinton wearing her bespoke designs and lost jewelry, along with comparison photos showing them on models and Asya Khamsin herself.’
Hansen said that during a search of Brinton’s home in Rockville on Wednesday, police ‘recovered a number of items matching the descriptions and images provided by Asya Khamsin.’
The attorney noted that his client’s luggage, stolen on March 9, 2018, contained ‘more than a dozen bespoke articles of clothing that she had designed, along with a number of other valuable items for her business.’
‘Asya Khamsin’s business was seriously damaged by this loss, which remained a mystery until she was recently alerted to photos of Sam Brinton wearing articles from her lost luggage,’ said Hansen.
The attorney said that Asya Khamsin is ‘leaving her options open’ for a civil suit against Brinton, but has not yet filed any lawsuit.
‘Certain public images of Mr. Brinton in Asya Khamsin’s designs were widely published, including on Vanity Fair’s Italian website,’ said Hansen, noting that his client’s designs were ‘displayed without attribution in many other publications’ while being worn by Brinton.
‘Asya Khamsin is a black, female, Muslim immigrant entrepreneur, and she has built a distinguished career over forty years,’ he added. ‘She deserves credit for her works.’
Sam Brinton was tapped as deputy assistant secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy by the Biden Administration. They were fired in December 2022
In February, a shocked Asya Khamsin went public with her allegations, saying that her suitcase went missing from Reagan National in 2018, and that she had since seen photos of Brinton wearing her custom designs.
The fashion guru, based in Houston, shared side by side photos of herself wearing one of her outfits next to a photo that surfaced of Brinton in what she believed is the same garment.
Asya Khamsin’s luggage containing the outfits she has accused Brinton of being photographed in, went missing at the airport when she flew to Washington, D.C. in 2018 for a fashion event.
The outfits were meant to be on display, but the designer said at the time she was unable to participate in the event as she’d hoped after her luggage went missing.